


Asymmetria

by Laora



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Body Horror, Gen, Harm to Children, a la shou tucker, i don't even know how to tag it tbh..., i never got to the Bad Shit i dropped it before then it's just. a horrible au i'm so sorry, the Literal Worst AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-20
Updated: 2014-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:22:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,387
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27123784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laora/pseuds/Laora
Summary: Shou Tucker doesn't transmute his daughter to create that chimera.He transmutes another little girl instead.[Posted for the Good Intentions WIP Fest. It's incomplete and discontinued.]
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Good Intentions: Abandoned and Unfinished WIPs





	Asymmetria

**Author's Note:**

> clearly both of these abandoned fics from my college/grad school days were abandoned for a reason,,,,, i started writing them when i was Not in a good place and then as i got better i said "uhhh how about we step Away from the grimdark and try some Healing instead"
> 
> seriously like this fic doesn't get into any of the actual body horror bc i abandoned it first, but it's, uh, Implied and the mood/growing dread is nearly as bad
> 
> literally just posting this for the WIP challenge, it's not getting updated or finished bc i hate the idea OTL
> 
> i _believe_ the opening scene was written by my old FFN friend [MayaSushi](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1651442/Maya-Sushi) (which dates this uh at least to 2013 since I haven't talked to them in years). they are the Master of grimdark FMA, if you want to get Fucked Up go to their ffn profile bc sldfkjadsf
> 
> backdated to the approx year I think I wrote it, just so it won't show up at the top of my profile lol

_It’s all dark._

_I do what Daddy tells me I should do when I get lost. I stay still, really,_ really _still, because pretty soon he’s gonna come find me. He’s gonna come save me from the dark because he knows I don’t like it very much._

_Daddy’s not gonna let me stay here for very long. Sometimes I get scared and I can’t sleep but Daddy says he’s gonna stop all the monsters, and I know he is because he’s a grown man. Daddy says a grown man is tougher than all the monsters that try to hurt me, and he’s extra super tough because he’s my Daddy._

_But it’s not easy not being scared._

_What if Daddy doesn’t get here in time?_

_What if the monsters get me..._

—monster—

The lab is dark when you finally shut off the lights, leaving your work behind, and the windows upstairs are tinted brighter as the sun begins to rise.

You stayed up all night. Again.

But you have to—you couldn’t survive losing this certification, couldn’t face yourself every day in the mirror…won’t let yourself fall back into that disgusting poverty and awful despondency again so soon after leaving it behind.

You know you’d do _anything_ to prevent it.

You know that you already have.

Nina wakes up early, as she always does, and you hear her bare feet stomping down the stairs just as you’re making another pot of coffee, see her hair swinging behind her as she runs toward you for a hug.

“Good morning, Daddy!”

“Good morning,” you say, and it is with a lighter heart than you have borne in months because you know, now, that your future is secured—that _her_ future is secured. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay,” she replies readily, though a little frown dimples her forehead as she pulls away, “but I can’t find Alexander anywhere. I don’t even see him in the yard!”

“Hmm,” you say, because lying to your own daughter comes easy when it means both of you can live in comfort. “Maybe he went out for a walk by himself? We can go looking for him this afternoon, if you want. Maybe Ed and Al would like to come, too.”

(Her dog is gone; it has bought their passage to another two years of plenty, and you would do it again and again if it means you get your pocketwatch renewed.)

“Okay!” she says, easily soothed, and she bounds over to a lower cupboard where her favorite cereal is stowed. “Can we get ice cream today, too?”

“Sure,” you reply, too cheered by your success (by the chimera caged in the basement) to refuse your daughter anything. You are—you are glad she is here, and not in the lab, because if you needed to, you would have transmuted her—because life as a comfortable chimera is better than as a destitute child, you are sure of this. You would have—you would have—

But you didn’t have to, in the end, because you found that little girl lost in the streets and offered her a place to stay for the night, showed her your pocketwatch to convince her of your trustworthiness…promised her over and over that you would call her papa in the morning and that she could have a sleepover with Nina if it would make her less scared—

The two fell asleep quickly, dwarfed by the large bed you bought for Nina after your wife won your first certification, and you took your chance.

She had been so—so _trusting,_ when she awoke in your arms in her borrowed pajamas and asked where you were going. “Go back to sleep,” you said, in the most soothing voice you could muster against your jittery nerves and barely concealed excitement. “Your papa will be here soon.”

She had smiled—so wide and brilliant that you nearly felt regret for what you planned to do—before falling asleep again almost instantly.

(You’re glad you didn’t have to use Nina, at the very least. Nothing matters more than your certification, but seeing your daughter whole before you warms your heart nonetheless.)

“Is Elysia awake already?” Nina asks, looking around the kitchen with wide eyes as if expecting her to pop out from behind the refrigerator. “She wasn’t upstairs when I woke up…”

“Her papa came and picked her up already,” you say, the lie rising to your lips, again, far too easily. But Nina cannot know the truth—it would only frighten her. All she needs to know is that you have secured her future yet again.

She lets out a whine, her face falling and her lower lip jutting out. “And she didn’t even say bye?”

“We didn’t want to wake you up.” And this, at least, is the truth. “Maybe we can set up a play date sometime soon for the two of you—would you like that?”

“Yeah!” And her face lights up—so easily cheered, her sorrows so easily forgotten—and she digs into her cereal heartily. You sigh, running a hand through your hair for a moment before sitting opposite her.

It’s too early, still, to call Eastern Command to tell them that you have succeeded—but soon you will pick up the phone, and soon, Nina’s thoughts will be driven far away from missing dogs and disappearing friends.

You do what you must to preserve your wealth and your power, and Nina will learn to treasure that above all else, as well.

—boy—

You arrive with your brother just before lunch; you slept in late and lazed around in your hotel room instead of going into the office, sure that the colonel would only have snarky remarks and more paperwork for you to wade through. And in the midst of this promising lead—an alchemist that specializes in biology, almost unheard of!—you really lack the patience for such things right now.

Al heaved a heavy, pointed sigh in your direction when you pointedly picked up the newspaper for the day and ignored the phone call from Mustang that said you’re both needed in the office, but you won’t be swayed. Today will be a productive day—you’ve decided this going in—and Roy Mustang will not ruin it for you.

Suffice it to say, you’re in high spirits when you knock on the Tuckers’ door late that morning, ready for another day of research and roughhousing with Nina and her thrice-damned dog.

The door opens to the little girl’s face, which lights up when she sees you both. “Big Brothers!” she crows, rushing forward to hug you around the knees. “Papa said you can come celebrate with us today!”

“If they’re not busy,” Shou Tucker amends, stepping up quickly behind Nina and sending an exasperated smile toward the three of them. “You know Big Brothers have things to do, Nina, and we shouldn’t interrupt them if—“

“We’re not busy at all!” you butt in, because any excuse to stay out of the office is an excuse you’ll take readily. “But what are we celebrating?”

“I’ve done it,” Tucker says, and he inclines his head slightly, his glasses flashing as his lips curl up into a smile. “I’ll get my certification renewed—I’ve transmuted another talking chimera, better than the last.”

You hear Al’s armor clank in shock beside you, and you straighten suddenly, your eyes widening. “Really?” you ask eagerly, because if he was able to do this—create a talking creature out of non-vocal ones—surely that would be a step toward restoring your brother’s body? “Can we see?”

Nina whines, her face falling, and she tugs on your coat until you look down at her. “Daddy won’t let me in his lab,” she pouts, and you nearly back down just for the look on her face. “He says it’s too _dangerous._ ”

“We’ll just be a little bit, Nina,” Tucker promises, crouching down and putting a hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you go grab your coat and rainboots? The sky looks like it’s going to open up soon.”

He’s speaking truth, and Nina reluctantly nods, heading toward the stairs and out of sight. She looks strangely alone, you notice, without…”Where’s Alexander?” Al asks Tucker as they follow him down to the lab. 

—father—

Jdflaksd


End file.
